Guilty Plea In Sex Assault

February 16, 2002

MIDDLETOWN — A city man pleaded guilty this week to charges involving a sexual assault in Middlefield and is now facing more than 113 years in prison.

Phillip C. Hightower pleaded guilty Thursday to charges of first-degree kidnapping, first-degree sexual assault and first-degree robbery. The charges are related to an Aug. 4, 2000, incident in which he assaulted a woman in a car in a remote area of Middlefield.

A jury had not yet been selected for the trial when Hightower entered the plea.

Last month, he pleaded guilty to another set of charges -- third-degree burglary, criminal attempt at sixth-degree larceny and third-degree criminal mischief in connection to an incident at a Main Street laundromat on Aug. 14, 2000. Prosecutors said Hightower tried to break into a machine with a crowbar or similar tool in an attempt to steal money.

That plea came just minutes before jury selection for the trial was to begin.

Hightower was found guilty by a jury earlier this month of first-degree robbery, first-degree larceny, and first-degree robbery involving an occupied motor vehicle. Hightower was accused of stealing a 2000 Chevrolet Cavalier on River Road on Aug. 14, 2000, soon after the burglary at the laundromat.